The Great History of the Great Wall
Although the wall’s of Great Wall of China original beginning is often traced to the 5th century BC, the majority of its fortifications date as far back as hundred years earlier. It was when China was still divided during the so-called Warring States Period into several individual kingdoms.
The first emperor of united China under the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang, ordered the removal of the earlier fortifications that separate the states around 220 BC. The emperor also ordered joining some of the existing walls along the border to the north into one system that would extend for over 10,000 li or approximately one-third of a mile. All of this was in an attempt of protecting China from the north’s attacks and invasions.
No building projects by other civilizations were as ambitious as the construction of the 10,000-Li-Long Wall or Wan Li Chang Cheng. Meng Tian, the renowned Chinese general, initially supervised the project and was even believed to have used a colossal army of commoners, soldiers, and convicts as workers.
Made mainly of stone and earth, the wall stretched from Shanhaiguan port in the China Sea to more than 3,000 miles west to the province of Gansu. There are also several strategic areas where wall sections even overlapped for enhanced security. These include the Badaling stretch located just north of Beijing which was later on restored during the era of the Ming Dynasty.
Building from the initial base of 15 to 50 feet, the wall rose higher with 15 to 30 feet more, topped with ramparts standing at 12 feet or higher. Guard towers also dot the length of the wall at intervals.
The Great Wall Through the Centuries
When the Qin Dynasty came to an end and Qin Shi Huang died, most parts of the wall also fell into bad shape. After the later Han Dynasty also ended, several frontier tribes took control of northern China. The Northern Wei Dynasty was the most powerful of them all. They extended and repaired the existing wall to ward off the other tribes from attacking.
The Bei Qi kingdom repaired and built over 900 miles of the wall, while the effective albeit short-lived Sui Dynasty extended and repaired it several times.
